The Legend of Zelda: Hero of Dreams
by XaetaminVaela
Summary: When the people of Elderleaf Village start inexplicably collapsing into a never-ending sleep, Link finds herself worrying for her family's safety. After a series of strange and unfortunate events, she suddenly finds herself thrown into a journey that will take her all across Hyrule and back in an effort to save the kingdom from being trapped in an eternal nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

 _Images passed before my eyes at lightning speeds. Buildings burning. Storms raging. People running for safety._

 _Sometimes I recognized something that came into view but it would always vanish before I could put a name to what I saw. The chaos continued until a new scene presented itself. A large gate built into an intricately carved stone arch exploded inward (outwards?) and a horde of monsters charged in from the wreckage. Soldiers banded together to thwart the invasion but a figure robed in white and wielding an impractically large sword rushed by and cut them down faster than they could react._

 _The figure stood, looking upon the destruction with a sadistic smirk on its monochrome skin. It took two steps forward before pausing as if in surprise. It turned its head to look at something (me?) before it smiled and said-_

* * *

I faintly processed the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder as I woke up gasping for breath.

"Easy there, Link. Everything's alright." spoke a familiar voice. I looked up to find my uncle Talon looking down at me with a concerned face. "I came upstairs to wake you up for breakfast and found you tossing around in your sleep. You must have been having one heck of a nightmare."

I didn't trust my voice as I was still trying to calm my nerves and so decided to just nod instead.

"You wanna tell me what it was about? It might make you feel better." he offered as he scratched partially bald head.

"I-i" I stuttered out. "I don't really remember most of it. It felt like it was just one big blur." I told a half-truth. The only detail that stuck out in my mind was that robed figure. I didn't know why at the time, but something about it left me horribly unsettled.

Uncle knew I was hiding something but didn't press the matter. "Well, when you're feelin' up to it, there's food waiting for you downstairs," he said as he crossed his arms.

I smiled gratefully. "Thanks, uncle. I'll be down as soon as I get dressed."

He nodded in return and left to give me some privacy.

* * *

I padded downstairs wearing a plain white short sleeved undershirt and pair of brown shorts. Just as dad had promised, there was already a plate full of food sitting at the small brown table in the center of our kitchen. Uncle Talon and his daughter Malon were already sitting at the table eating their meals.

"Mornin' Link!"

"Morning Malon." I tiredly replied to my redheaded best friend and cousin.

"Dad says you had a nightmare. You sure you're okay?" she asked while leaning over the table to get a better look at me.

"I'm fine Malon. It was just a bad dream." I tried to reassure her.

"It's the fourth bad dream you've had this week!" she shouted accusingly.

"Settle down Malon." uncle stated. "If Link thinks that she's alright, then we'll just have to hope she's right." Malon sat back down with a pout."That being said, don't think you have to hide anything from us. We're family and we all love you just as much as you care for us."

"Thank you, uncle Talon. I promise I'll tell you if something's wrong." I replied with a smile as I finished my breakfast.

"Well, we've got a long day ahead of us." uncle stated as he sat up front the table. "The royal family's commissioned a hefty price for one of our finest horses, so we had better be sure their steeds will be in top condition for when they get here."

Malon's eyes lit up immediately at the mention of the royal family. "Oh yeah! They're arriving tomorrow, aren't they?"

"That's tomorrow, huh?" I said in mild interest.

"How are you not excited, Link!? We're going to meet the princess!" she practically squealed as bounced to her feet.

"I dunno. Guess I just don't see what's so special about meeting the heir to the throne." I paused for a moment to consider something. "Why is the princess coming here again?"

"It's a celebration of the princess's coming of age. Apparently, word reached her highness's ears that we raise the best horses in Hyrule. She picked us personally as the ranch she would be receiving her royal steed from." uncle explained with no small amount of pride.

This time Malon did squeal. "C'mon, Link! We got horses to take care of!"

"Hey!" I protested as she grabbed my arm and tried to drag me out the door. "At least let me put my shoes on first!"

Malon and I walked through the stalls with a bucket of horse feed in each hand. At the ages of thirteen and fourteen respectively, the two of us were considered old enough to perform basic chores and care for the animals around the ranch. Most of the heavier duty tasks were handled by uncle Talon and his assistant Mr. Ingo.

Malon may as well have been skipping down the stables for how much bounce she had in her steps. Her giddiness was contagious as I found myself humming along in sync with her singing. She had a wonderful singing voice and even the livestock knew it. Eventually, we came by a stall occupied by a young, rusty red-coated horse.

"Hey, Epona! How are you today?" Malon greeted her favorite horse. Said horse seemed to snort in response to her question. "I know, I know. You want your food first, don't ya girl." Epona softly whinnied in reply.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you could actually talk to horses," I commented.

"What makes you think I _can't_ talk to horses." she retorted as she fed Epona.

"Because horses can't talk," I stated.

"Says you."

"Says anyone with a shred of common sense."

We kept bantering like that back and forth even as we left the horse stables to go tend to the cows. "You're just jealous that _you_ can't talk to horses."

"Why would I be jealous of your craziness?"

"I'm not crazy, you're just dumb."

"If I'm dumb, then how did… I…" I trailed off as I noticed something missing. "Hey, Malon? Do you know where the milk buckets are?"

"Aren't they sitting on the shelf?" she replied while looking around me to check for herself. When she confirmed that the buckets were indeed missing, she said, "Huh. Maybe dad misplaced them somewhere?"

"Maybe…" I agreed. Before either of us could suggest anything else, we heard the sound of a very angry man shouting profanities off in the distance.

"Sounds like Mr. Ingo found something to complain about." Malon winced as she said that. Mr. Ingo was a hard working man but he had a notoriously short temper and little patience for incompetence. Which was unfortunate for uncle since his bad memory often led to him making silly mistakes while on the job.

"Five rupees says the milk buckets aren't the only thing that uncle misplaced," I said.

"How did dad ever manage to maintain the ranch on his own?" Malon asked whilst shaking her head.

Deciding we might as well at least ask uncle where he left the buckets (assuming he even _knew_ ), we both left out the barn house and quickly found where the commotion was coming from. Mr. Ingo was shouting at uncle from just outside the tool shack while uncle just stood there looking confused. By the time we reached the two of them Mr. Ingo was red-faced and panting. "Hey, dad? Have you got any idea where the milk buckets got put last?"

Malon hadn't even finished her question before Mr. Ingo started another rant stomped off. There were a couple of seconds of silence as Mr. Ingo disappeared into the Cucco house before uncle answered. "To answer your question darlin', probably the same place as all of the tools that used to be in this shack."

"Wait, _all of them?_ " I asked in bewilderment.

"Every single one. You can take a look inside if you don't believe me." He said with a furrowed brow.

Malon and I did and besides the work table, every farming and crafting tool had gone missing. Even Uncles toolbox had mysteriously vanished. "Did a thief break in and steal our stuff?" I asked.

"What kind of thief steals tools and nothing else?" Malon wondered with a hand on her chin.

"It's prolly just some youngins pulling a prank. Ingo certainly seems to think so." Uncle crossed his muscular arms as he admitted that.

"Wait, so Mr. Ingo _wasn't_ yelling at you?" Malon asked in mock surprise.

Uncle grinned before his expression fell back to seriousness. "Oh, he did. Tried to accuse me of not lockin' the door the night before but I happened to recall him having to use the keys to get in."

"So it was locked when you got here? How did the thief get in?" I asked in confusion.

"Maybe they locked it back up when they left?" Malon suggested.

"Yeah, but why though? I mean, it's not like we weren't going to notice a couple dozen tools going missing overnight." I pointed out.

"The how's and why's don't really matter much right now. Point is: we ain't got any tools which means we're stuck doing any chores that can be done without 'em." I let out a heavy sigh and ran his hand over his face. "And on the day before her highness is supposed to show up too."

Now Malon looked like she was panicking. "That's right! What're we gonna do if we can't get any jobs done before they arrive!?"

"If it was a bunch of kids causing trouble then the culprits should be in town somewhere." I reasoned. "Why don't the two of us go looking for them while uncle and Mr. Ingo do whatever they can around the ranch."

"That's not a bad idea." uncle agreed. "Why don't you two do that while Ingo and I get busy."

"C'mon Link! Let's go! We gotta find those brats before the princess gets here!" Malon said as she grabbed my arm and started dragging me to town.

"Ah! Malon slow down!" I pleaded as she shot towards the ranch gates with me in tow.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Hello to anyone who might be reading this. For a long time now I've had an interest in gender bender fanfictions and have been in search of a Zelda based one to read in my spare time. Unfortunately for me, all of the stories I've found either a) gender swap** _ **all**_ **of the characters (which I find boring and overly confusing), b) have and/or are badly written plots or c) just when I think I've found one that hits all of the things I'm looking for, the author discontinues/stops updating it. So my solution: I'll just have to make my own. Here's my attempt at accomplishing that very goal.**

 **As for the, like, nine of you who found and followed my Persona 3 fanfic and would like to see it update: I'd like to say I'll return to it some day but the fact remains that I just don't have the same interest in the game that I used to. Which sucks because I have so many ideas that I'd have loved to implement into the story now that I know exactly where I would have taken it. Maybe getting my hands on Persona 5 will reignite my passion for it but for now FDND will be put on an indefinite hiatus.**

 **That's all I have to say for now. Here's hoping I have better luck writing this story than my last one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Elderleaf village is a small town but that just meant that everyone knew each other. As we walked through the southern gate we were greeted by name by multiple residents who were going about their morning routines. While we were busy returning those greetings, Malon asked me, "So how are we going to find the culprit again?"

I had to resist putting my palm to my head. For as bad as uncle's memory was, his daughter was equally bad at planning ahead. "We should ask around to see if anyone saw anything suspicious last night. I doubt one person could steal that much equipment in one night and a group of people running around with that much stuff wouldn't be too hard to spot, even in the middle of the night."

"Huh. That's actually pretty smart." she indirectly complimented me. "Okay! Let's do that then!" I didn't even bother protesting as she grabbed my arm and dragged me along to ask the first person she spotted.

And so started a series of events that involved Malon interrogating a bunch of random people and getting nothing but disappointing answers and a few suggestions of who to ask next. Eventually, we were led to Ahna's: a small general store at the center of town run by an elderly old woman by the same name. Before Malon could enter the shop, I stopped her and asked, "Hey, Malon? Would you mind if I asked the questions this time?"

"Huh? I thought you didn't like talking to strangers." she pointed out.

The comment stung me more than I would like to admit. I've always been more than a little shy which made communicating with someone I didn't know hard and uncomfortable for me. Because of this, Malon had made it a habit of doing most of the talking for the both of us while we were out running errands in town.

"I've spoken with Mrs. Ahna a plenty of times before. Besides, I'm never going to get better at talking if I don't practice once in awhile." I explained half of my reason. The other half of it was that I figured things would go faster if I was the one asking.

"Well if you're sure…" she asked in obvious concern.

I opened the front door and was quickly greeted by a wrinkled-faced white-haired woman. "Ah, hello there Link. And you as well Malon. Are the two of you running errands for Talon today?" she asked with a pleasant smile as she turned around from looking out the window.

"Good morning Mrs. Ahna. There's been a problem at the ranch and we were hoping you could help us." I explained.

"Well, I hope it doesn't involve purchasing any of my wares. Most of my stock seems to have disappeared overnight." she said.

"You too?" Malon and I asked in perfect synch.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked in mild surprise.

"Uncle went to get some tools from our shack only to discover it was empty. We were wondering if you had seen anything suspicious last night that might help us figure out who took our equipment." I elaborated.

"I'm sorry to say that I haven't." she frowned as she said that. "I haven't even got the foggiest idea what happened to my wares. Although…" she paused for a moment as she seemed to consider something. "I seem to recall hearing that miss Khari's children were causing quite a ruckus last night. Perhaps that might shed some light on the mystery?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Ahna. We'll let you know if we find out who took your stock." I spoke my gratitude as I turned to leave.

"Later Mrs. Ahna! It was nice seeing you again!" Malon waved goodbye.

"Farewell children. I wish you both the best of luck."

Once we were outside, Malon asked me, "So it was Miss Khari's kids that stole our stuff? Those two are always causing trouble around town, so I guess it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to pull a prank like this."

"Somehow I doubt they could have pulled a stunt like this without getting noticed," I said. "But we won't know for sure if it's their doing until we find out for ourselves."

A quick journey to Miss Khari's house led to us knocking on her door and quickly getting a response. "Oh! Hello, you two. What brings you here." The middle-aged, redheaded mother asked us as she answered the door.

"Um… we were wondering… if Kina and Kado were home." I said nervously. Speaking with Mrs. Ahna was easier for me because uncle sent me to get supplies from her store on a regular basis. We'd gotten to know each other rather well and I was more comfortable around her than most of the other residents of the town. The thing with Mrs. Khari, though, was that I never got along with her children and everyone in town knew it, including Mrs. Khari herself. That always made things feel so much more awkward for me whenever I had to talk to her.

"Oh dear. Are they up to no good again?" She wondered out loud.

"Our farm equipment has disappeared and we think someone, ah, took it," I spoke while trying to imply as little as possible that we thought her children might be behind it.

"You don't think my children stole your tools, do you?" She leaned to the side, shifting her weight to her good leg. "I mean, they're frequently causing trouble but they've never done something so drastic." She was very clearly concerned over what I was suggesting.

"Ah! No, um, we heard they were making noise last night and, uh, wondered if you knew what it was about." I tried to claim as quickly as I could.

"I see…" she said, obviously not convinced with my act. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. Those two managed to sneak out late last night while I wasn't paying attention. I only found out about it when Mr. Ingo brought them back and complained to me about keeping a better eye on my children." She started. We all collectively winced at the mention of Mr. Ingo complaining. "I asked them why they were out so late past their bedtimes but they just made up a ridiculous excuse instead of telling me the truth."

"Um, what did they tell you? I-if you don't mind me asking that is." I stuttered.

"They tried to tell me that they saw an imp flying around on a broom outside and tried to catch it. I grounded them for sneaking out and lying to me but I'm afraid they snuck out again." She shook her head sadly. "Could you two do me a favor? I've asked the other townsfolk to keep an eye out but if you girls find them could you tell them that I'll ground them for even longer if they don't come back immediately? I'd do it myself, but…" she gestured to her walking stick.

"Don't worry Mrs. Khari. We'll keep a lookout for them." Malon said.

"That would be greatly appreciated. I do hope you find whatever happened to your ranch equipment. The princess is supposed to arrive tomorrow after all."

 _Please don't remind us._ I thought but didn't have the nerve to say. We said our goodbyes and left to find wherever Kina and Kado had run off to.

Once again we found ourselves asking people we passed for any clues. While we got plenty of help with finding the siblings but no one had any evidence as to who the thief was. There was one thing we did discover, however. Our tools and Mrs. Ahna's stock weren't the only things stolen. People across the town reported that various things had gone missing. The strange thing about these apparent thefts, though, was that the things that were stolen were different for each case. Pottery from a collector's house, toys from a family of five. The only thing that seemed to connect these thefts was that the stolen objects were always directly related to the victims they were stolen from.

"Something the matter, Link?" I heard Malon ask as I tried to figure out the point behind everything.

"It doesn't make sense," I mumbled half to myself.

"What doesn't?"

"Everything," I responded. "I just can't figure how someone could steal so much and not get noticed. Not to mention how randomly the victims seem to have been chosen." I shook my head. "I just don't get it."

"Mm…" Malon made a noise of consideration as she tried to figure it out herself. "Welp, I'm clueless!" she exclaimed after barely a minute's pause.

"Great. Glad to see you're thinking hard about this." I said sarcastically.

She playfully pushed me with one arm. "Oh c'mon Link! We both know you're the smart one!" she claimed. "If anyone can solve this mystery, it's you!"

"Thanks, I guess." I put a hand to my mouth as I yawned.

"Hey, you look tired Link. Did ya not sleep well last night?"

"I thought I did. Guess that nightmare didn't let rest as peacefully as I would have liked." I admitted.

Malon was quiet for a moment before she started talking again. "We could take a break if you'd like. I won't mind if it'll help you feel better."

"Thanks but I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible. I might not be looking forward to it as much as you but I wouldn't want the princess to think we weren't taking proper care of the ranch."

Malon looked like she wanted to protest but didn't say anything. It wasn't long after that that I spotted a familiar pair of redheads standing at the edge of town. "Hey, I think I found Kina and Kado," I said as I pointed at the twins.

Malon looked over towards them and exclaimed, "Hey, you're right! Good going Link!" she grabbed my arm and I braced myself for another round of being dragged around by my friend. Before she could get she could get moving, though, she stopped and turned to me. "When we get home, I'm gonna make you take a nap," she said with determination.

"But-" I tried to say.

"No buts! You're gonna take a nap and you're gonna like it!" she had a grin that quickly faltered into a concerned smile. "I'm serious Link. You haven't had a good night's rest in almost a week. I'm sure pa will understand if I tell 'em that you're exhausted."

Realizing that she wasn't going to take no for answer, I said and said, "Fine, just… brace yourself for Mr. Ingo's rant when he finds out i turned in early."

"Will do! Now let's hurry before those two have a chance to run off again!"

"Wah- hey! Give me some warning before you start dragging me off!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Welp, nothing special here. This chapter was equal parts exposition, world building, and plot advancement. The next chapter, however…**

 **I am so looking forward to what's going to happen over the next couple of chapters. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

The twins were only a couple of years younger than us but you'd swear they weren't any older than eight with how young and short they looked. They wearing matching outfits consisting of overalls over patterned button-up shirts. While Kina's shirt was decorated with purple and blue diamonds, Kado's was covered in orange and green stripes.

"Are you sure it went into the forest?" Kina asked.

"Of course it did. Didn't you see it go that way too?" Kado replied.

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking." She shot back.

"Aren't you two supposed to be grounded or somethin'?" The twins almost jumped out of their shoes when Malon spoke up behind them.

Once they realized who had spoken their faces twisted into almost identical sneers. "Oh, great. The ranch girl found us." Kina spat out. "And she brought her babbling cousin with her." I winced at the stinging insult.

"How'd you know we were grounded? Did mom tell you to bring us back?" Kado demanded.

"As a matter of fact, she did." Malon admitted with her hands on her hips. "And that's where you'll be headin' if you know what's good for you."

"No way! We were just tryin' to stop that imp from stealing everyone's stuff but Mr. Ingo caught us and got us in trouble!" The brother claimed.

"Yeah! We ain't goin' back until we prove we were tellin' the truth!" The sister added.

"As if anyone's gonna believe that excuse."

As she said that I heard what sounded like giggling coming from the direction of the forest entrance and looked to investigate.

"Hey, Malon…" I tried to get her attention.

"But it's true! We really did see an imp runnin' off with everyone's stuff!" Kina insisted.

"Yeah and I'm the queen of Hyrule." Malon stated sarcastically. The giggling shifted into barely concealed laughter.

" _Malon…_ " I said with more emphasis.

"We'll show you! The imp escaped into the forest! If we could find we could prove-" Kado exclaimed before Malon interrupted.

"Or you could go home instead of makin' up excuses that no one's gonna believe."

She was about to reach out and grab the twins by their arms before I shouted, "MALON!"

My sudden outburst startled her causing her to spin around and look at me as if I had suddenly transformed into a Deku Shrub. "Is somethin' the matter, Link?"

"Look." I said as I pointed at a tree not far from the forest entrance. She turned around to look where I was pointing and quickly discovered what I had found. Leaning back in the branches of a tree was a small creature wearing what looked like an effeminate jester costume with alternating colors of red and blue. It couldn't have been more than a couple feet tall and was laughing as if it had heard the best joke of its life.

Malon just stared at the creature for a couple of seconds before she mutter, "Goddesses be darned. They _were_ tellin' the truth."

"See! We told you we weren't lyin'!" Kado shouted.

"Now we just gotta catch it and make it tell us where it took everyone's stuff!" Kina claimed.

It occurred to me then that if this 'imp' creature really was our mystery thief then the twins were right about having to catch it. There was just one problem though.

"Um, it's in the forest." I quietly said.

"Yeah?" Kado asked.

"So?" Kina continued.

"We aren't supposed to go into the forest." I pointed out.

"So what? It ain't like it's that far away from town." Kina countered.

"Yeah. I mean, it's right…" He turned to point at the imp only to pause as we all realized that the creature had hopped down from the tree and was now staring at us with a grin on its face. With what little sunlight was managing to get through the trees, it became apparent that the imp's skin had two different tones. The left half (from our perspective) was white like snow while the opposite side was a solid black. Its 'face' looked like it had been painted on. Each eye was nothing more than a solid circle of the opposite color of the side of the imp's skin it was on. Its 'mouth' was little more than a red crescent that gave the impression of a large grin and it's ears were long and pointed, much like a Hylian's.

As we continued to stare in silence the creature suddenly hopped around, bent over and tauntingly smacked it's butt a couple of times before it snapped its fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared barely a second later, we saw that the imp hadn't gone far. It was definitely much farther away than it was before but still visible to everyone present. Once again it taunted us and vanished in another puff of smoke.

"Wah- It's getting away!" Kado screamed.

"After it!" As soon as Kina finished that statement, she tore off after the imp with Kado not far behind.

"Hey, wait!" Malon tried to grab them before the left but missed and stumbled to her knees. She quickly got back to her feet and shouted back to me. "Link! We have to go after them!"

"But-" I tried to protest that we should get an adult to deal with this but she interrupted me.

"They could get hurt if we don't stop them! We _have_ to bring them back before something bad happens!" and with that, she too ran into the forest.

I took a quick, hesitant look back in the direction of the town before I chased after everyone. We were running for several minutes before Malon tripped on a tree root and fell. I caught up to her and kneeled down to make sure she hadn't hurt herself. "Are you okay?" I asked a little out of breath.

"I, hah, fine." She tried to stand back up but fell back down in pain the moment she tried to put weight on her right leg. "Okay… not fine."

I looked on ahead to see if I could spot the twins. Unfortunately, they had gotten too far ahead for me to see them anymore. "Link… you need to… need to find them." she told me while trying to catch her breath.

"What about you?" I asked out of worry.

"I'll try to… get back to the village… and get some help." She took a deep breath as she looked around on the ground for something. Eventually her eyes landed on a decent sized tree branch nearby which she picked up. Using the branch as a makeshift crutch, she managed to pick herself back up to her feet.

"Malon…"

"I'll be fine, but someone needs to make sure those two don't do anything stupid."

"You mean besides chasing after an imp into a forest we've been told since we were children was dangerous?" I pointed out in an attempt to alleviate the tension.

"Yes, besides that." She said with a strained smile. "Go on. I'll get an adult to come after you guys as soon as I get back."

I took a slow couple of steps backwards, eyeing my cousin one last time to make sure she'd be okay. She was obviously relying heavily on that branch to keep her balance but beyond that seemed mostly unharmed. "…Be careful." I said.

"You too, okay?" Her face got solemnly serious then. "I mean it. I don't know what I would do if…" She couldn't finish her sentence but I got the message anyways.

With one last nod, I ran in the direction I had last seen Kina and Kado go. Fortunately, there was a path through the trees although it seemed like it was slightly overgrown. Judging from the foot prints in the dirt, I assumed that the twins had followed the imp along it which made it easier for me to track them down.

I soon found myself thank the all of the hard work I put into caring for the ranch every day. It helped me to build up my stamina and allowed me to keep running even as I felt my legs burning from the strain. I couldn't keep it up forever, though. Eventually I had to stop and catch my breath, leaning with my hand pressed against a nearby tree.

Not for the first time, I looked back the way I came. There was a clear trail of footprints where myself and the twins had been running, so at the very least I knew I'd be able to find my way back out.

 _I hope Malon made it back._ I thought to myself. Returning my gaze to the trail before me, I had to wonder, _Just how far did they go in? And how can they keep running like this?_

I was just about to continue my search when I noticed a strange warmth on the back of my hand. When I went to examine it, I was surprised to find that the birthmark on my left hand had started glowing.

"Wh-what?" I could barely comprehend what it was that I was seeing. The trio of golden triangles shined softly like the setting sun; the filled-in lower left triangle shining the most. Slowly, almost hesitantly, I reached out to touch it…

Only for a pair of screams somewhere in the distance to snap me out of my reverie. _Was that the twins!?_ I wondered in shock.

I looked at my birthmark again and discovered that it was indeed still glowing. I so badly wanted to understand just what this mysterious phenomenon was but my mind kept telling me that the twins could be in danger. _I can solve this mystery later. The twins' safety comes first._

With that decided, I continued my run through the forest. _Goddesses, please. Please don't let me be too late._

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Yeah! Action! The last chapter pretty much exists to set up the scene for this one. And this chapter exists to build up the hype for the one that comes after it. Now that we've come this far, the story can finally begin picking up momentum.**

 **This next chapter is going to introduce several of the important story elements that are going to be driving this fic as well as reveal the first of my many major oc's I've created for the sake of this story. Hope you guys are as excited as I am for what's to come.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Following the trail of foot prints lead me to a clearing in the forest. When I got there I found Kado on the ground, desperately crawling backwards away from a lap dog sized spider with a skull shaped pattern on its back.

 _A skulltula!?_ I was shocked to discover a monster so close to the village. The skulltula slowly stalked its prey without hurry as if it were waiting for Kado to tire himself out so it could leap in for the strike. I did a quick scan of the clearing to find Kina cowering against a stone structure at the opposite end.

Knowing that she was safe for the time being, I began searching for anything that would help me to fend of the spider. My eyes settled on a large branch resting on the ground roughly half the distance between me and Kado. Without giving myself the chance to second guess the shear number of ways my half baked plan could go wrong, I sprinted towards the branch and picked it up without stopping. The action left me over balanced for a brief moment as the weight of the branch caught me by surprise but I managed to regain my footing and continue my advance towards the monster hunting the child.

The skulltula seemed to notice me coming as it suddenly stopped walking and prepared itself for a lunge at the twin on the ground. The moment it leaped off the ground, I managed to get between it and Kado with the branch prepped for a swing. With the branch gripped in both hands, my clumsy attack struck, knocking the spider out of the air to land on its back to my left. Not giving it chance to recover, I ran up to and wildly slammed my makeshift weapon into its exposed underbelly several times. The final swing resulted in the branch snapping in half but succeeded in killing the monster as its legs flailed wildly before curling into itself. With a small explosion of black smoke, the creature disintegrated into nothing.

After I was sure it was dead, I stumbled back a couple steps, dropping the branch in the process. I stared at the spot where the monster was, not quite able to process just what had happened. When it finally finally hit me, I fell done on my rear as the shock from everything that had happened settled in. At the time it felt like everything happened over the course of an eternity but in my head, as the scenes kept repeating themselves over and over, I realized that the whole chain of events had only lasted a handful of seconds.

"L-Link?" I heard a voice that distracted me from my daze. Turning my head, I saw that Kado was looking at me in shock. His arms were partially raised as if he had braced himself for the skulltula's attack before I had intervened.

We were both silent for a while before I made an attempt at regaining my composure. Once I felt calm enough to speak, I shakily stood back up reassured him, "D-don't worry. The monster's dead. It can't hurt you anymore."

It seemed as though it took some time for him to truly understand what I had said and when he did, he started crying out of relief. Seconds later, a second voice started wailing as Kina came running across the clearing to all but tackle her brother in the tightest embrace she could manage. The two held each other and bawled their eyes out for several minutes before they started to calm down. Even then, it was evident that the two wouldn't be capable of any coherent speech for awhile.

By then, I had made my way over to them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "H-hey. Um, I know a lot has happened, but we should probably get back to the village." Now that the adrenaline from the moment had left me, I found myself stuck with my old nervousness with speaking. "I, ah, don't really know what else… m-might still be out here, but… I d-don't want to stick around to… to find out." I forced out. "Um, do you guys… t-think you can walk? Back to the village I mean."

They both looked reluctant to leave each other's embrace but nodded and stood up anyways. "Stay close, alright? I won't let anything else hurt you." How I wished I could believe that statement myself.

I was about to start leading them away from the clearing when I spotted something that caught my attention. Floating above the stone structure on a broom was the imp that had caused us all that trouble. For reason's I didn't understand at the time, she seemed rather pleased with herself but at the same time also appeared a little apologetic. She lifted her hand as if to snap her fingers but paused and looked off into the distance in apparent surprise. Her expression then shifted into an angry scowl as she did snap and vanished into the same puff of smoke as when I had first seen her.

I had so many question left unanswered but decided they could wait until I had gotten the twins to safety. Taking Kado's hand, I guided him and sister, who was holding onto her brother's hand, back the way we came. It was around the time we passed by the tree I had caught my breath against that I heard voices coming from the direction we were heading.

"Link!? Can you hear me!?" _Uncle Talon!_ I recognized the voice.

Moments later, I hear the twins' father call out, "Kina!? Kado!? Where are you guys!?"

"Uncle! We're over here!" I shouted.

The sound of pounding footsteps was all the response I got before a group of adults turned the corner and found us. "Link!" Next thing I knew, uncle was pulling me into a big bear hug that I gratefully returned. "Are ya alright kiddo? You look you got chased around by an angry cucco."

"I _wish_ it was an angry cucco." I admitted. "But I'd rather talk about it after we get out of this forest."

"What's wrong with the forest?" Uncle asked as we separated. He took my hands in his and looked me in the eyes.

"There was-" I swallowed hard before I continued. "There was a monster. A skulltula." That was all I had to say for uncle to understand.

"Borian." he said to get the twins' father's attention. Mr. Borian paused the lecture he was giving his children to listen. "My niece says she found a skulltula in the forest. If you ask me, we ought to leave just in case there's any more of 'em out here."

Mr. Borian seemed surprised and agreed quickly. "In that case, let's go." he said before returning his attention to his children. "Don't think you're off the hook yet. Your mother and I are going to have a few stern words with you once we get home."

With that, he took their hands and led them towards the forest's exit. Uncle Talon and I followed after them along with the rest of the village whom had come to help find us. Exhaustion finally kicked in as we started walking and I found myself stumbling across every little thing I stepped over.

"You look exhausted, Link. Ya want me to carry you back home?" uncle offered.

"I'll be fine, uncle. I'm just a little tired is al-" My feet apparently disagreed as they gave out on me. Fortunately, uncle managed to catch me before I ate the dirt. Uncle laughed softly as he knelt down with his back to me. Realizing that I had lost that battle, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he hooked his arms behind my legs. He stood back up, then, with me riding on his back.

He carried me a ways through the forest before I decided to ask, "Were you and Mr. Ingo able to get any work done at the ranch?"

He hesitated for a moment before he replied with, "Well… yes. After all the tools miraculously appeared in a puff of smoke right before our very eyes."

"They did? When?" I asked.

"It was about an hour after you kids left. I was walkin' into town to tell ya we had our equipment was back when Mrs. Khari came runnin' up the path to tell me what was goin' on." he explained.

 _That sounds like it happened around the time we found that imp._ I figured. A part of me was still trying to figure out what it wanted but something in uncle's voice made me think that there was something he wasn't telling me. "Did something happen?" I asked.

Uncle sighed and probably would have run a hand over his face if only his arms weren't preoccupied with supporting my legs. "Mrs. Ahna collapsed and fell unconscious today."

"Is she okay?" I asked in alarm.

"Wish I could say for sure but as it is, no one in town seems to know what caused it." he grimly explained.

What he was saying greatly disturbed me. "But I saw her just earlier today. She seemed fine back then."

"That's what everyone else who did the same are saying. The only clue we got is that Mrs. Khari claims she she was complainin' of a headache just moments before she fell." he shook his head. "Stuff gettin' stolen, people colapsin' for no reason and now we got monsters in the forest. What in Hyrule is goin' on around here?"

To this day, I wish I knew what was about to come next. At the very least I could have braced myself for all the crap fate was getting ready to throw at me.

* * *

When I first became aware of my surroundings, the first thing I noticed was that I was gently floating in water. The next thing I noticed was that I had no idea how I had gotten there.

Without moving anything other than my head, I looked around to try and identify where I was. From what little I could see, the area I was in seemed very familiar. Adjusting myself so that I was now upright and kicking just enough to stay afloat allowed me to confirm my suspicions.

 _Is this the pond me and Malon used to swim in as kids?_ It was and that only served to confuse me more. I decided to mentally retrace my steps to figure out how I got there. _I woke up this morning. Discovered the ranch's equipment got stolen. Went to town to find the thief only to discover that the thief was this small imp thing. I chased after the twins, fought off a monster with a stick and got to ride on uncle Talon's back all the way home. Then…_

Nothing. Uncle giving me a piggyback ride was the last thing I could recall. _Am I dreaming?_ It was the only reasonable answer I could think of. I must've fallen asleep on uncle's shoulders.

I couldn't remember a time I felt so lucid during a dream but decided to just enjoy it. It was better than a nonstop chain of nightmares after all. I started gently swimming my way to the pond's shore when a familiar looking puff of smoke exploded in front of me and an equally familiar black and white face appeared from it.

"Ah!" I squealed in surprise.

In a high-pitched voice came from the imp in front of me, speaking so quickly I had to repeat the words in my head several times to understand what she was saying. "HiMyNameIsWhimsiiAndI'mADreamSpiritCanIPleaseBeYourFriend?"

After a moment if deliberation, my only response was, "Um… sure?"

"Yay!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Oh my goddesses, how long I have waited to properly introduce Whimsii. This adorable little imp is something that I'm going to enjoy writing dialog for to no end.**

 **Also, we're four chapters in and I'm only now introducing the problem addressed in the fic's summary. :| Oh well, at least it's finally happening.**

 **On a side note, do you guys pronounce it skull-TOO-la or skull-CHU-la. I personally say it as the latter since their basically tarantulas with skull patterns on their backs.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"So… Whimsii, right?" I asked the so called 'dream spirit'.

"That's my name~!" she replied in a sing-song voice.

"Right, um…" I looked down at my bare lower legs which were gently kicking in the pond. I noted that I was wearing the same outfit as the day before minus my shoes. _Did uncle take them off when he put me in bed?_

After the surprise and confusion of Whimsii's sudden appearance settled down, I had swum all the way to the pond's edge and sat down on the shore. It was a weird feeling. While I was in the water I felt wet but the moment I stepped out it felt like I had been dry the whole time. _Must be a dream thing._ I reasoned.

"Why exactly did you steal everyone's stuff?"

"I was looking for someone!" she said excitedly from where she floated above the pond on her broom. "I thought that if I caused some trouble then maybe they might show up!"

"Okay, then…?" I responded, unsure of what kind of logic she was using. "Um, who were you looking for?"

"You~!" Whimsii sang. "I think," she said less energetically. "I'm pretty sure it's you at least."

"How can you be looking for someone and not know who you're looking for?" I asked her.

"Scary guy told me to find a 'hero with unshakable courage'!" she explained excitedly. "That's why I pulled that prank! I figured that if someone like that was nearby, then they would do hero things and save the day!"

"Is that why you led us to that Skulltula?" I asked with a hint of anger.

Her expression fell a little bit. "The Skulltula was an accident. I didn't know there were any monsters in the forest." She sounded so sincere I couldn't help but want to forgive her. "I would have helped out myself if you hadn't shown up."

I sighed, deciding she most likely didn't mean any harm. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I doubt I'm the 'hero' you're looking for," I said. "I'm just a girl who's lived her whole life working on a ranch. I can barely work up the courage to talk to strangers let alone be a hero."

"Says the girl who selflessly protected a little boy by beating a monster to death with a stick." Whimsii countered with a smirk. "I think you're braver than you give yourself credit for."

I was a little off-put by the oddly mature tone she was using to support her argument. It just seemed out of place coming from her, although it's not like I had known her for long enough to make a proper judgment.

"Why are you looking for a hero?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"To beat up the Nightmares and make them stop doing bad things!" she exclaimed in her usual childish tone.

"Nightmares?" I asked. "Like bad dreams?"

"No! Well, sort of, but kinda different." she tried to explain. When it was clear that I was still confused, she hopped off her broom to land next to me on dry land and clarified, "I'm a Dream Spirit, right? I give people happy dreams when they go to sleep! Nightmares are bad and give people scary dreams!"

"And you want someone to… 'beat up the Nightmares'." I tried to understand.

"Well… there's more to it than that," she spoke with a suddenly somber tone. "There's this guy who's been making Nightmares and getting them to do bad things. He's already made a mess out of the Mirage Realm and now I think he's trying to come to your world and do the same."

There was so much information being thrown around I was starting to get overwhelmed. "How much trouble can a handful of bad dreams cause?" I wondered. I was momentarily distracted by the feeling of something pressing against my shoulder but when I looked, there wasn't anything there.

"It isn't just the bad dreams that the Nightmares are causing." There was that mature tone again. With her personality seamlessly changing from one extreme to the next, I no longer knew how I was supposed to view Whimsii. "Earlier today, an old woman from your village collapsed without any warning, right?"

The way she said it sent a chill down my back. "Yeah, um… did the Nightmares…" I didn't know how to finish that question. Or maybe I didn't want to.

"If a Nightmare gets strong enough, they can force a person into a deep sleep. If nothing is done about it, the person being tormented by the Nightmare might never wake up again."

"But how can I do anything about that? It's not like I can go into her dreams to… 'beat up the Nightmare'." The pushing feeling on my shoulder got stronger.

"Actually, you can!" she reverted back to her childish persona. "You just have to-" she cut herself off when the both of us noticed an odd fog settling in. "Aw, crap. You're waking up." Whimsii looked me dead in the eyes and without breaking character, said "I'll be waiting here for when you go back to sleep! If you want to save that old lady, then just ask and I'll show you how!"

Rushing to my feet, I reached out to her and said, "Wait! I still want to ask you-"

* * *

Someone was nudging my shoulder. " _Liiiiiink~_! Come on, Link! It's time to get up!" I vaguely heard the sound of Malon whining at me. "The princess is coming and we have work to do!"

I groaned as I sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "What time is it?"

"The sun came up about an hour ago. Dad wants us to get as much work done before the princess arrives," she explained before she threw off my blankets and started tugging on my arm. "So come on, Link! Hurry up and get ready so we can prepare for the princess!"

"Okay, alright already. Just let me get decent first."

She excitedly hopped backward to give some space. It was then that she looked as though she suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah! How're your hands?"

"My hands?" I asked in confusion. Looking down at them, I realized for the first time that they were bandaged.

"Yeah! Dad said you scraped your hands yesterday. He noticed you got hurt on the way home and wrapped them up when we got back." she explained.

I stared at them for a moment longer. "…I didn't even notice until now." I admitted. "I think it must've happened when that branch snapped in my hands."

"Well if they don't hurt then I guess there's nothing to worry about!" she said cheerfully. "Pretty sure dad's already got breakfast started so I'd be getting ready as quickly as possible of I were you."

* * *

Malon spent the entire time we ate breakfast chattering on and on about how excited she was for the day's events. Uncle humored her by giving a short reply every once in awhile but I found it hard to pay attention to anything she was saying, much to Malon's frustration.

"Link!" I nearly jumped out of my seat when Malon shouted at me. I looked up at her to find a concerned, if impatient, look on her face.

"What?" I asked while trying to return my thoughts to the present.

"Are you alright? You've been staring at your hand all day."

Hearing her say that led me to glance back down at my hand. Or to be more specific, the birthmark resting on the back of it.

"See?! You're doing it again!" she shouted as she stamped her foot in frustration.

I flinched and responded with a quick, "Sorry."

Uncle gave me his 'concerned dad' stare. "Did you have another nightmare last night?" he asked.

I had to suppress another flinch at the word 'nightmare'. The whole conversation with Whimsii was still fresh in my mind but that wasn't what was on my mind. "Surprisingly, no," I said in response to his question. "I had a weird dream last night but not a bad one. That's… not what has me so distracted." I took a deep breath before I continued. "This is going to sound crazy but yesterday, when I continued chasing after the twins after you fell, my birthmark…"

"Your birthmark what?" Malon asked curiously.

"My birthmark started glowing." I finished with my eyes once again returning to my hand.

Malon and uncle were quiet for a moment before Malon responded with, "You're right. That does sound crazy." Thinking that she didn't believe me, I let my shoulders slump. "But I guess there were lots of crazy things going on yesterday. So I guess I wouldn't be too surprised?" she finished, sounding a little unsure of her own statement. "And besides, you've got a birthmark shaped exactly like the Triforce. I mean, the goddesses had to have put it there for a reason, right?"

"You say that like the goddesses have some grand scheme involving me and my actions." I half teased.

"Who's to say they don't." uncle said with a thoughtful look on his face. I watched as his gaze shifted to somewhere behind me. I turned in my seat to try and discover what he was looking at when my own attention was captured by the sword hanging above the fireplace.

 _Dad… what would you think?_ I wondered.

A clattering noise alerted me to the fact that uncle had finished his meal and was getting out of his seat.

"I dunno about you kids but I'd like to make a good impression with the princess. The sooner we get to work, the more we can get done before she gets here."

* * *

 **Author's notes: Yeah, exposition! At least it's enjoyable exposition spoken through the mouth of an adorable little Dream Spirit.**

 **The next chapter will involve some more exposition but at least it's all for the sake of advancing the plot. Not to mention that it will also be introducing this incarnation's Zelda.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

"Link! Malon! Get your arses over here!" came the voice of Mr. Ingo. "The princess is arriving!"

Upon hearing that statement, Malon wasted no time dropping the bucket she was holding and grabbed my arm. I just sighed and did the same as she started dragging me out the door of the cow's shelter. "Do you have to drag me around every time you get excited?" I asked.

"Yes!" she shouted without showing down. "Now stop complaining and run faster! We don't wanna be late!"

"Pretty sure you're the one who doesn't want to be late," I mumbled under my breath.

At the speed we were running it didn't take long to reach the ranch gates. Uncle and Mr. Ingo were already there, standing just a few feet away from it as they alternated between looking down the road and checking to see if we'd made it there yet. Uncle opened his mouth to say something but Malon interrupted him before he could say a word. "Are they here yet!? Can I meet the princess yet!?"

"I was about to say that they arrived in town just a few minutes ago," uncle said with a chuckle and an amused smile. "The mayor's having a few words with her highness about the recent troubles and sent someone down this way to give us some warning."

"But she'll be here soon, right?!" I swore that I could literally see the stars in Malon's eyes.

Mr. Ingo rolled his eyes and snapped, "For the goddesses' sakes, YES! The princess will be here soon."

"Give her a break, Ingo. Let her have her fun," Uncle chastised him. "It's not every day that you get to meet royalty after all. What girl hasn't dreamed of meeting the princess?"

"Me, apparently." I snarked.

"Oh, shush. No one asked you," Malon teased. I stuck my tongue out at her in response.

Mr. Ingo crossed his arms and huffed. "Could the two of you at least _try_ to act mature when her highness gets here?"

"I'm sure they'll be on their best behavior Ingo," Uncle said as he looked down the road. "Looks like they've finished their business with the mayor. I see a carriage climbing up the road,"

As Malon started babbling nonsensically about how excited she was I took a deep breath calm myself. "Nervous kiddo?" uncle asked.

"A little bit," I admitted. "We're going to be selling a horse to the princess of Hyrule. If we screw this up, then…"

Uncle gave me an understanding smile. "Just act natural and I'm sure it'll all work out. From what I hear, the princess is a sensible person. I doubt she'll get offended too easily."

"I just hope you're right about that."

Seconds after I said that I heard the sound of hoofs beating against the ground and wooden wheels rattling. It wasn't long before the carriage came into view and was pulled in front of us. The driver his partner, soldiers wearing the armor of the Knights of Hyrule, stepped off their seats at the front to circle around and open the carriage doors. From inside the carriage stepped out a tall woman with white hair and sharp red eyes. Her outfit consisted of a strange, tight-fitting, one-piece uniform that was various shades of blue and white. On her torso, printed on white, was a single red eye with a similarly colored tear falling from it.

The woman stepped aside and reached her hand out to the carriage's other occupant. "Here, your highness. Let me help you down," she spoke with a deep yet soothing voice.

"Thank you, Impa. I appreciate your help," responded a younger, softer voice.

The voice was revealed to belong to a young girl with long flowing blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a regal looking set of riding gear, consisting of a pink long-sleeved shirt and white leggings covered partially by her brown riding boots. She also wore a pair of brown leather gloves over her hands.

The moment I saw her I felt a strange sense of familiarity as if we had known each other for a long time. Instinctively, I tried to recall from where or when we might have met but shook my head when I came up blank. _There's no way I could have met the princess… right? I mean, I've always lived in Elderleaf and have never been anywhere near Castle Town._ I reasoned.

Impa helped the princess down from the carriage, and in turn, the princess gave us a slight curtsy and said, "Greetings. I am Princess Zelda, although I'm sure you've already figured as much," she spoke with a pleasantly light-hearted tone. "And this is my caretaker, Impa," Zelda gestured over to the white-haired woman. "She'll be accompanying us to aid me in whatever way she can."

Uncle bowed to one knee causing the rest of us to do the same and said, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your highness. My name's Talon and I'm the owner of this ranch," he greeted. "This is my daughter and niece, Malon and Link, as well as my assistant Ingo," he said as he gestured to each of us in turn.

"There's no need for formalities, although I am grateful nonetheless." she motioned for us to stand and we did. "Shall we begin our…"

I didn't hear the rest of what she was saying as became distracted by a familiar warmth coming from my left hand. I checked on it and found it was glowing much the same way it had in the forest. Thankfully, the bandages wrapped around my hand hid most of it from view, allowing only a tiny portion of the light to shine through from underneath.''

"Hey, Link?" Malon's voice startled me and I quickly stuffed my hand in my shorts pocket to hide it. "Are you okay? Everyone's already heading for the stables,"

I looked in the direction of the stables and sure enough, everyone was already on their way. "Uh, I'm fine. Just a… little distracted is all," I mentally cringed at how poor that excuse was.

Apparently, my attempt at hiding my hand didn't go unnoticed. "Is something wrong with your hand?"

I checked to see how far away the others had gotten before I pulled out my hand and showed Malon. "It's glowing again. I don't know why it is but I didn't want to make a scene in front of the princess," I explained.

Malon took my hand and examined the light bleeding through the bandages. "It really is glowing," She said with some awe.

"Please don't tell anyone until the princess leaves," I asked. "I'd really rather not have everyone's attention on me."

"If that's what you want then fine I guess but we should really catch up with everyone else," she pointed out.

By then everyone was already inside the stables. "Yeah. Thanks, Malon. I appreciate."

By the time we reached the stables uncle and Mr. Ingo were already talking business with the princess. Thankfully, no one brought up the fact that we had lagged behind although I noticed the princess looking at me curiously.

"-is four-in-a-half years old and we've been training her for fourteen months," I tuned in onto uncle's description of a white mare. "She's not quite ready for any extreme acts of riding but I imagine she'll get their within another six months or so."

"She's a beautiful horse. I can tell you take good care of your stock," the princess complimented.

"We have my girls to thank for that. They do most of the work caring for the horses," uncle stated with pride. "Ingo and I mostly just handle their training at this point."

"Is that so?" she asked as she turned her attention to Malon and I. I could practically hear Malon mentally squealing with joy at receiving the princess's attention. On the other hand, I wanted to scream at uncle for getting the princess to focus on me. "Then I suppose it is you I owe that compliment to."

This time Malon did squeal, albeit quietly under her breath. The princess must have heard it because she giggled in response. The continued on to the next horse after that as uncle described each horse we passed as well as gave a few recommendation to the princess as to which horses to consider purchasing. It was only a matter of time before we came across a certain red mixed-breed. "This here is Epona. She's turning six years old this spring and is easily one of our finest," Uncle explained.

Princess Zelda reached out gently and caressed Epona's mane. "She's rather calm, isn't she?" she asked as Epona leaned her head into the princess's hand.

"Bah. Only if she feels like it," Mr. Ingo muttered under his breath.

"I take it she's quite temperamental then?" the princess questioned.

"With certain people, yes." uncle admitted with an amused look at Mr. Ingo's reaction. "Epona won't let Ingo go anywhere near her if she can help it. Even I have a hard time getting her back to her stall when we finish our regular training. My girl's seemed to have perfected getting her to do what they want, especially Malon."

Once again the princess's attention was drawn to us. I looked away out of discomfort and noticed that Malon hadn't reacted the way she normally did every time Princess Zelda had looked at us until then. A quick glance at her face told me she was feeling conflicted about something and it took me a moment to realize why. _The princess could decide she want's to take Epona._ The thought filled me with confliction as well. I didn't have the same bond to the horse that Malon did but I knew I would feel sad if she had to go.

"I'm actually rather surprised she's taken to you so quickly." uncle said. "You're not the first person to gain Epona's affection but you are the first I've seen to do it just as quickly as my girls."

I decided it would be best to return my concentration back to the conversation at hand. Quickly turning my head back to look at everyone else present, I noticed that the princess had her gaze locked onto me. Specifically, she had her eyes centered onto the hand I had stuffed into my pocket. She seemed to detect my own gaze as her eyes snapped up to me and quickly averted themselves. For a moment I worried that I had offended her but if I had, she didn't bring it up.

"Shall we move on? As much as I would like to admire Epona some more, I believe there are many more horses to see," she suggested.

Malon and I both let out a collective sigh of relief that I don't think either of us realize we were holding.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: I'm really running out of things to say for these exposition chapters. I don't think it would have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that most Zelda plotlines require a decent amount of build-up time to set the stage. Thankfully, the next chapter, if not the one after it, ought to be the one to really kick things off towards the action of this story.**

 **In slightly related news, I've had this chapter finished for like three days and never uploaded it. Why? Because I was too lazy to sit down and spend the minute or two it took to write these notes. :/**


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